If someone who sounds like Cristiano Ronaldo calls you, hang up

Cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence (AI) to clone the voices of famous basketball players, football players, and other sportspeople.

Audio scams aren’t new. However, in the age of artificial intelligence, these threats have become more widespread.

These types of scams are often used to trick unsuspecting victims into handing over sensitive information or their hard-earned cash.

There have been various incidents where cybercriminals have used voice cloning to trick the person on the other end of the call into handing over millions.

For example, Forbes reported on a case in the United Arab Emirates in which crooks cloned the voice of a company’s director, leading to cybercriminals stealing $35 million.

Another case covered by The Wall Street Journal details cybercriminals using audio deepfakes to pose as a company’s chief executive to steal €220,000 ($243,000).

While cybercriminals use audio deepfakes for targeted attacks, they may also use celebrities' voices to trick the general public into handing over information or funds.

Research conducted by ticket comparison site SeatPick and AI experts at AIPRM shows how often certain sportspeople’s voices have been cloned.

Here’s SeatPick’s and AIPRM’s top three:

Cristiano Ronaldo

The findings show that football star and Instagram's most followed celebrity, Cristiano Ronaldo, had his voice replicated over 5,500 times, making Ronaldo the most popular sportsperson to deepfake.

LeBron James

American basketball player and power forward LeBron James is second on the list, with his voice being cloned more than 4,700 times. The research shows that over 4,700 AI sounds were made using the basketball player’s voice. This may mean that fans are replicating his voice for fun and not to defraud or trick people.

Patrick Mahomes

Kanas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the third sportsperson whose voice has been cloned. Mahomes’ voice has been deepfaked over 3,000 times.

Other popular sportspersons include football quarterback Tom Brady, basketball player Stephen Curry, and football players Neymar, Lionel Messi, and Kylian Mbappe.